During the hearing, members stated that Simpson had no criminal convictions. Not true. He was, of course, acquitted in his famous murder trial, but prior to that, in 1989, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery of wife Nicole Brown Simpson.

The problem is, that court result for some reason never made it into a giant FBI database, known as the National Crime Information Center, upon which parole board officials around the country base their decisions.

Nevada officials recently re-checked the NCIC after an inquiry from the Times and still came up empty. "This most recent report also makes no mention of the 1989 California court record," says a state parole board official.

Would it have made a difference? Tough to say. Board members won't comment, and Simpson, now 70, had no behavioral blemishes on his prison record. And, no, the oversight isn't cause to have the decision reviewed.

CNN has more details on the 1989 assault, after which Nicole Brown Simpson told police she feared Simpson was going to kill her. (The famous white Ford Bronco in Simpson's police chase can be yours, for a price.)